Road to Chaos
by Hinata HyuUchiha
Summary: Road to Ninja AUish! What happens when Sasuke meets with the mysterious masked man and gets send to the Canon Naruto universe? And what happens when he sees the shy Hinata he talked to just days ago? There will definitely be chaos!


Road to Chaos

Sasuke Uchiha – heartbreaker of Konoha – that's how people call him.

But recently there was someone who broke his heart.

She was the most confident and temperamental girl in Konoha and everyone knew that she can become a beast when someone tried to get close to her crush, Menma. To Sasuke, she was mysterious – mysterious in how she hid her love from him and how she once turned from sweet to sour.

It was the day when they worked together for the first time.

He still remembered when she stood there shyly, talking incoherently about how their plan of separating Sakura from Menma wasn't going as planned…because it was going too well.

And that's when it struck him.

She didn't love Menma! She just tried to get him jealous…and he fell for it!

Love literally made him blind…how could he keep searching for love between random girls when his true love was right under his nose?

Sasuke smiled bitterly every time he remembered that day.

But today he'll change his fate…today he will conquer her heart.

He forced himself through a crowd of screaming girls and entered the ramen stand. His love sat at the end of the table, quietly slurping on her noodles. He carefully sat beside her, pretending that he was looking through the menu.

"What do you want, pussy?" she asked with a hint of annoyance.

It stung…but on the other hand…she used this insult on him ever since their 'plan'…and that sent a wave of pride through him.

He smiled.

Too soon.

The crowd of girls came rushing in, screaming and asking him to go out with them.

"What are you doing here all alone?"

"Should we keep you company?"

"Please go out with me!"

He turned to them with a warm smile that caused some of them to melt instantly.

"Maybe some other time," he said before red eyes stared at them.

"Ok!"

"Anything you say."

"I'd do anything for you."

Their voices faded as they more or less willingly left the ramen stand.

"Idiot," he heard Hinata mutter before she stood up.

He hurried after her and took hold of her wrist before she pulled away.

"Leave me alone, Playboy," she shouted viciously.

"I just want to talk to you."

"I hate you! I don't have anything to say to you," she shouted.

"I understand and I feel the same whenever I see you. My words simply stay stuck in my throat but if we keep walking past each other, we can never be together," he said with a smile.

She looked at him with disgust.

"I told you already that we have nothing going on," she said, her eyes glaring dangerously at him.

"Girls say that just to hide their feelings and I already know that you just try to keep me interested in you with those hateful words," he said and held out a red rose to her.

Hinata burned with anger seeing that red, little bribe in his hand.

"But you don't need to pretend anymore. I know that you have feelings for me…and to show you mine, I want you to accept this gift from me and show your true feelings for me," he said and patiently waited for her reaction.

His heart made a leap when she took the rose from his hand.

Finally she returned his favor!

He stepped closer to her.

"I'm so happy for you," he said, opening his arms to give her a hug.

"Too bad I don't feel so happy for you," she sneered and punched him right in the face, sending him to the ground.

But it really hurt when he saw her breaking the delicate rose in half and throwing the pieces into his face, before she stomped away.

This was the third time, she punched him. The second time was when he got into a fight with Neji when seeing him peeping on the girls' section of the bath house, fearing he was peeping also on Hinata. Unfortunately, he punched Neji right through the door. And unfortunately, Hinata had to stay right in the doorway. She immediately lashed out at Neji and at him, causing both to end up in the hospital for 2 days.

He frowned while making his way home.

Why was she so stubborn? Why couldn't she stay that shy, little girl he met at the restaurant?

Sometimes he wished he could go back to the time when they were working on their 'plan'.

He noticed someone in the distance and increased his pace. Maybe it was her and waited to meet up and apologize to him.

Wrong.

It was a guy in black cloak and an orange mask.

He must be one of those guys that came to help Konoha once because he wears the same clothing as the others.

"Why so sad, my friend?" he asked.

Sasuke stared at him.

"None of your business," he replied coldly.

"Maybe I can help you out," he said happily.

"You can't help me with love."

"So there is something you wish for? I can fulfill any wish you want," he said and came closer.

"You're not a magician," Sasuke replied with a mocking laugh.

"But I have this!" he said and held out a glass ball.

"What's that?" he asked confused, and noticed that it had a red glow in it.

"This is the key to the Infinite Tsukiyomi," he echoed and held it towards the moon.

"What?"

"You will soon be reunited with your girl," he called through the flash of light that was becoming brighter by the second.

"How did you –"

The flash vanished – as did the stranger with the mask.

He was alone in Konoha.

"What just happened?" he wondered in silence as he made his way home.

All of a sudden, he stopped.

It was strange that it was so quiet.

It was strange that the Uchiha district was deserted.

He continued with his stroll in a more quickened pace.

There was no sound coming from the houses, no sound coming from the streets and all lights were turned off.

"Where is everybody?"

He rushed into his home and searched for his parents, for his brother.

"Mother? Father?"

He searched the kitchen, his room, and the living room…but nobody was there.

"Itachi?" he called into the darkness…but received no answer.

Why was nobody there? Were they summoned to a mission? Or were they on a meeting?

But he felt too tired to think about it and lied down on his bed…after he cleaned off the dust.

In fact, his whole house was covered with dust and spider webs – as if his family was missing for years.

If he only knew…

On the next morning, he went to search for his parents.

"S-sasuke?"

He turned around.

He noticed Ino, Choji and Shikamaru.

"It's Sasuke!"

"How did you manage to get past the gates of Konoha?" Shikamaru asked.

"That's strange. How come Ino is dressed so…provocative? And Choji…why does he look so chubby? And even Shikamaru seems not to be that…dim-witted like he usually is," he thought while studying them.

"Shadow possession jutsu successful," he heard Shikamaru mutter…before he realized he couldn't move anymore.

"What are you doing?"

"I bound you to my jutsu while you were daydreaming," he replied mockingly.

"What? It's me, Sasuke! I thought you changed but you're still stupid since you attack one of Konoha shinobi," he said with a sneer.

"You're not a Konoha shinobi. You're a criminal! And now we'll bring you to Tsunade!"

"What's wrong with them?" he thought confused and activated his Sharingan.

Shikamaru immediately cancelled his technique and along with Ino, grabbed Choji and carried him away.

Sasuke used his chance to sneak away and stopped in front of a restaurant.

He noticed Lee and Tenten talking and used his Sharingan to read their lip movements.

"The war caused many deaths…including Neji," Lee murmured.

"And now the war is almost over…but Sasuke is still set on destroying Konoha. We have to search for him…before he finds us," Tenten said with a hint of sadness.

"What? Neji died? And they are looking for me?" he thought confused.

Lee turned to the window and in the last minute, Sasuke managed to hide.

"This can't be true! I can't be a criminal! I have to talk to Tsunade," he decided and made his way towards the Hokage tower.

He noticed some villagers running away when he got close to them. Some of them just stood there, eyes wide with fear.

He went over to a girl.

"What happened?" he asked with a smile.

He noticed her turning red in the face but at the same time, she staggered backwards.

"It's Sasuke!" she cried and ran away.

"I have to end this," he thought determinedly but stopped in his tracks.

He heard laughter coming from the ramen stand – her laughter.

He observed her from the corner, his heart pounding loudly in his chest.

Hinata was with her teammates, laughing so beautifully, the pounding in his chest almost hurt.

"What is she so happy about?"

And it hurt what he saw next.

Naruto came out of the ramen stand and walked over to Sakura before they left together.

"Not Menma again! Why does she still like him?" he thought angrily.

He heard Kiba talking.

"Thanks to him, the ten-tails is defeated."

"Yes and thanks to him, Madara is also defeated," Shino said, pushing his glasses up.

Sasuke's cheeks turned red when hearing her voice.

"B-but Sasuke is still trying to destroy Konoha. Just for one second…I thought, h-he changed when he came to help us…but to think he would backstab us," she said sadly, looking at her feet.

Her words stung like a knife.

She was like he wanted her to be…yet; he didn't want her to think of him like that.

The stranger with the mask almost fulfilled his wish…but maybe he had to make the other half come true by himself.

"I know…but we have no other chance. It's Tsunade's order."

"What is Tsunade's order?" Sasuke thought confused.

"We have to kill him!" Kiba said seriously.

Sasuke's eyes opened wide.

"Kill me? Over my dead body," he thought angrily and made his way to the Hokage tower.

He made sure that nobody saw him, occasionally forced to put guards under a genjutsu.

He stopped in front of her office door and noticed Naruto and Sakura talking to Tsunade.

"You have to search the village and make sure that it won't attract too much attention. Some villagers have claimed to have seen Sasuke and others ran away. Fortunately no chaos has broken out yet," Tsunade said strictly.

"And if we found him?" Sakura asked her.

"Naruto restrains him while you report back to me so I can send for back-up."

"And what if he doesn't want to be restrained?" Naruto asked.

"Kill him!"

All three were shocked.

"Even Tsunade wants me killed? No way!" Sasuke thought shocked and decided that staying in this village was too dangerous for him.

But before he left, he wanted to give a present for the one he loved. So he went back to the ramen stand and while she went to the bathroom, he placed a red rose next to her bowl of ramen.

And so he left the village of Konoha, never looking back but always thinking of Hinata.

Meanwhile Hinata came back from her business and was surprised to find a rose next to her bowl.

"W-who gave this to me? Was it Naruto? No…I haven't seen him. My teammates…couldn't have been it either. Was it…that stranger, I've seen?" she thought confused while observing the delicate plant.

She smiled.

Meanwhile Sasuke rested near a tree somewhere in the forest of Konoha. He heard rustling of leaves from nearby and he followed the sound, in fear that it might be some Konoha shinobi.

But it was someone else.

It was him!

"Who are you?" he called.

The person turned around.

It was Sasuke!

"Is that…me?"

"That is the most pathetic transformation attempt I've ever seen. Why did you transform into me? "he asked, a mocking smile on his face.

"What? You're the one using transformation jutsu…and you look ridiculous with those clothes on," Sasuke taunted back.

"We'll see who used transformation jutsu," the avenger said and in an instant managed to land a hit into Sasuke's face, sending him to the ground.

He stood back up only in time to evade a kunai but failed to evade the slash, cutting him on his side.

Sasuke jumped back, pain starting to rise in his side and noticed the wound starting to bleed.

"You must have used a very strong type of transformation jutsu to hold it stable even after getting slashed like that," the Uchiha commented.

"I'm the real Sasuke Uchiha! You're the one using Transformation."

"If you're the real one then tell me…something about 'Sasuke' that only he knows."

"I know that I'm…in love with Hinata Hyuga," he murmured before he managed to evade another attack of his counter-part.

"That has nothing to do with my question. I'm in love with nobody!"

Sasuke managed to hit his sword out of his hand and used his chance to attack him with his own weapon.

But the Uchiha was faster and evaded all of his attempts, his Sharingan making it extremely easy for him.

"I must say, you're very skilled with that weapon but not skilled enough, "he smiled, managing to hit the sword out of his hand.

While the Uchiha retrieved back his weapon, Sasuke used his chance to fire a fireball onto him, but Sasuke was quicker and evaded and in mere seconds, managed to send him flying with a precise kick into his face.

"You cannot be me at all! You're so weak…it disgusts me to think that you want to be me," Sasuke arrogantly said.

"I am you!" he shouted, wiping the blood off his face.

The Uchiha laughed bitterly.

"You cannot be me. You would have to know everything about me…but you know nothing. You know nothing about my past."

"Past?"

"The Past that caused me to turn against Konoha."

"He's a criminal? Is that why they were searching for me? Does that mean that he IS the real Sasuke? No, I'm the real Sasuke!" he thought, trying to fight the pain in his side.

"And you will be the first one to die," the avenger said, activating his Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan.

"Not if I can prevent it," Sasuke said, activating his Sharingan.

The Avenger was taken by surprise.

"He knows the Sharingan? Does that mean…he is me? No, he cannot be me! He is merely an illusion…and I'm going to destroy that illusion," he thought and activated Amaterasu…but his 'imposter' was saved in the last minute.

"H-hinata?"

"Get out of here! I'll handle this from now on," she said, standing in fighting position.

"Another weakling? Maybe I should get rid of you first," the Uchiha said and pointed his sword at her.

"Why did you betray us? I thought…you changed. Why do you hate Konoha so much?"

"Because it caused me to lose my family," he replied.

"I know how you feel…but that doesn't mean that you should abandon the ties you have left," she said, trying to convince him.

"He lost his family?" Sasuke thought, confused of the whole situation.

"I lost my brother too but I know that he wouldn't want me to seek revenge on his murderer and abandon my friends. He wanted me to live happy," she said, remembering his death.

"How can I live happy if I know that my own village is responsible for the death of my whole clan, huh?" he said angrily.

"T-the village is responsible for the clan's death?" Sasuke thought, feeling a sense of loneliness inside him.

Hinata activated her Byakugan.

"Naruto would never want you to destroy Konoha and he will try everything he can to help you out of this loneliness," she said determinedly.

"Who is Naruto?" he thought confused but remembered the blonde boy at the ramen stand. "Wait! Wasn't that Menma?"

"That's because he never knew what losing his loved ones meant. But I'll make him understand…just as I'll make you understand," he said and placed her under a genjutsu.

"I-I can't move," Hinata cried, alarming Sasuke.

"I'll make you understand what it means to lose a loved one," Sasuke said to his 'counter-part'.

"Over my dead body," he shouted and activated his Chidori.

He charged at him with great speed…but stopped just before he could hit him.

"I…can't move."

"Let me show you the secret of the Uchiha clan," the Uchiha said with a smile.

The surrounding vanished in a blur and was replaced with his house. It was dark and he clearly saw his younger version running through the rooms calling for his parents. He stopped in front of his parents' bedroom…but after several deep breaths, he entered.

Sasuke noticed his brother amidst the blood of his dead parents.

"W-what happened? Why is Itachi there? A-and why are my parents dead?" Sasuke stammered, the feeling of loneliness rise inside of him.

As he watched the scene, a strange mixture of anger and confusion was starting to take him over.

"Itachi killed the whole clan. And he was ordered to do so…by Konoha!" the avenger told him.

"What? No!"  
"Then why is it that you haven't seen any other Uchiha member in the village? Haven't you wondered where Itachi was? It's…because you killed him!"

Sasuke tried to block out his counter-part's voice but it was useless.

"Your brother made himself look evil so you'd become strong enough to kill him. It was actually the village that caused you to kill him. Your brother lied to you, so you'd never try to harm his beloved village," he explained.

"It's not true! It's all lies! You're lying to me!" he screamed…but his eyes told him otherwise – the dead bodies of his clan members told him otherwise.

Hatred started to rise inside of him – hatred for his village.

"I-I'll kill them! I'll kill them all!" he thought viciously.

"Sasuke!"

His eyes snapped open.

It was her voice!

He heard it from the distance.

She was so far away!

She couldn't help him.

"Hinata," he murmured desperately, falling to his knees.

All of a sudden the surrounding changed back to normal and beside him were…Naruto and Sakura who injected their chakra into him.

"Long time no see, Sasuke!" Naruto smiled at him.

"Menma!"

"This is not Menma! Menma is in your world and I think it's time for you to return," Sakura smiled at him.

"For what? My clan is dead!"

"N-no, his clan is dead…but in your world everyone is alive," Hinata told him, making Sasuke look at her in confusion.

"Don't trust them! They work for the village! They just want you to go with them so they can kill you!" he heard the Uchiha from behind.

Sasuke stared hard at Menma and Sakura.

"But you want to kill me! I can't trust you!" he said, taking out a kunai.

"That's not true! We just want you to understand that you have been used. We want to help you!" Sakura said.

"That's right! You have been used – used by the village. You have been used so you could eliminate Itachi, and ironically, bring peace to the village," Sasuke said, causing his counter-part more emotional pain and confusion.

"Don't listen, Sasuke! Don't listen to hate! He just wants you to take his side," Naruto said and took his arm holding the kunai.

"But my brother is dead! My whole clan is dead!" he shouted angrily and released himself from his grip.

"But –"

"Shut up!" he shouted at them, amusing the Uchiha behind him.

"I know you want to kill me and I…can't let that happen," he said and turned to his 'counter-part'.

"But I can't let you guys get hurt either," he said and threw his kunai towards Sasuke, who evaded easily and broke eye contact with Hinata and therefore released her from his genjutsu.

Sasuke came charging at him and was about to slash him with his sword.

"I won't…die," he murmured before he fell unconscious due to his physical and mental wounds.

Everywhere was black.

He felt deserted and the images of the massacre crept into his mind.

"No, forget it! They are not dead!" he thought, trying hard to shake the images and the anger from him.

"S-sasuke? Are you alright?"

Her voice shook him.

His eyes slowly opened and a warm feeling swept through him when seeing Hinata looking at him with relief.

"H-hinata!"

"Don't get up!" she said and pushed him gently back onto the bed.

"What…happened?" he asked weakly.

"You passed out when 'Sasuke' tried to kill you. Luckily, Naruto came to help you," she smiled, causing his heart to skip a beat.

"What about…Sasuke?"

He noticed a worried look on her face.

"He was fighting with Naruto and Sakura…but it turned out that he used a genjutsu somewhere in between the battle and escaped. We don't know where he is right now."

There was a long silence, with the wind blowing through the open window of the hospital room.

"You still try to kill me?"

Hinata looked at him in surprise.

"Tsunade said that whoever found me, should kill me," he murmured, looking at the white bed sheet.

"No, because you're not 'Sasuke'," she smiled.

"That's not what I meant. I know you have to kill him, right?"

Hinata looked at her feet.

"It is Tsunade's order."

"But I can't let you do that! Don't kill him! I…want him…to escape death…and this hatred he lives in. He showed me what happened to his parents…and I can understand him…but he also showed me that this loss makes you more aware of the loved ones you have left. And I don't want him…to leave this world unloved," Sasuke muttered, causing surprise and admiration on Hinata's part.

He looked at her seriously.

"Me neither…and I think Naruto and Sakura would do anything to prevent this," she said.

"What about you?" he asked.

Another moment of silence.

"Would you be ready to disobey Tsunade?"

She smiled sadly.

"Those who break the rules, are scum…but those who abandon their friends are worse than scum," she said, causing Sasuke to look at her with surprise.

"Naruto thought me that…and I will follow this principle, because I know that this principle helped Neji out of his hatred and I'm sure, it will help Sasuke too."

He smiled at her, causing her cheeks to turn pinkish in color.

And for the first time in his visit to the 'other world', he realized how shy Hinata actually was.

And he liked her that way.

He sat back up, his black eyes fixed on her perfect face.

"Y-you're not ready to get up yet," she said alarmed and tried to push him gently back onto the bed.

But this time, he took hold of her wrist, surprising the heiress.

He inched closer to her, the pounding in his chest deafening.

"W-wait," he heard the shy girl stutter…but somehow, he couldn't stop himself anymore.

"We have to find him," he heard someone say before several hasty footsteps passed his room.

His body stopped moving and he slowly opened his eyes…and noticed that his face was just an inch from her cherry reddish face.

"I-I'm…sorry," he murmured as an apology.

She lowered her head.

"What happened?"

The wind blew her hair gently from her face and he noticed the sad look in her eyes.

"The whole village is looking for you…and we don't have a proof that you are not the Sasuke they look for. You have to leave this world!" she said with a sad undertone.

"How did you know?"

"You look not like I remembered him…and you are…much nicer than him," she smiled, sending another warm wave through him. "But I understood that you came from somewhere else when I met Naruto and Sakura leaving the Hokage's office. He told me that he and Sakura met you once and Sakura told me that you had…quite a different personality than Sasuke."

His heart felt heavier with each word. He knew what would come next – but wished that it wouldn't have to end this way.

"You have to understand…that it will be too dangerous for you to stay here. I just want you not to get hurt," she said.

He looked at her with wide eyes – looked at her eyes.

She cared about him? Does that mean she had feelings for him? Could it be that he finally fulfilled his wish?

But on the other hand, it made leaving her even more painful.

He looked at the bed sheet, the wind occasionally breaking the heavy silence with its whisper.

He made a decision and stood up from the bed.

"A-are you alright?" he heard Hinata stammer in worry.

"I'm fine! I have to go!"

And with that he transformed into a random villager and took her hand.

She blushed upon contact.

"Are you ready?"

She nodded.

And with that, they jumped out of the window.

Sasuke reluctantly let go of her hand and then, both continued to walk towards the exit.

Luckily, nobody seemed to suspect them and with slow steps, managed to get past the gates of Konoha and entered the forest.

"S-sasuke?"

He turned around.

"Do you know…how to get to your world?" she asked.

How could he forget?

"I will find a way," he answered with a frown, angry at himself that he didn't think of this sooner.

"B-but before you go…"

He looked at her in confusion.

"…I want you to have this," she said, her cheeks turning pink once again.

He stared at the thing she held in her hand.

It was a rose – his rose!

"H-hinata!"

"I knew you left it there for me. I've seen you observing me while I was with my teammates. So I knew that it was you the villagers were talking about."

"Why?" he asked.

"You are the proof that Sasuke still has a chance to change his ninja way…and to escape his hatred. And you showed me…that he still cares for his friends," she smiled.

He felt a mixture of comfort and pain surging through his body.

"B-but…I give it to you…so you won't forget about me. I want you to remember that even in two different worlds…friends can help each other."

He was amazed by her personality – by her caring nature…even for her enemies.

"I can't…accept this. This is my present to you. This is my proof…for my feelings for you."

Hinata stared at him with wide eyes…before she smiled at him.

"The only thing I regret is that the 'Hinata' in my world…will never accept my feelings…like you did," he murmured.

"Don't worry! You just need to show her your caring side. Show her what you both share. You just need to keep trying…and maybe she'll show her feelings one day."

He felt confident with each word but it felt harder to leave this world.

He gave the rose back and she took it with a shy smile.

"But I still want to give you a present," she said and took out a small box of ointment and held it out to him.

He took it from her with a smile.

"I hope you will always remember me."

"And I hope you will always remember…"

He came closer, placing his hand onto her rosy cheek.

"…that I love you," he whispered and kissed her gently.

"Wow! Seems like my plan worked."

Both turned crimson and Hinata fainted immediately.

"Why did you come without warning?" Sasuke shouted angrily at the masked man.

"Because I didn't want to disturb you two lovebirds," he teased, causing Sasuke turn crimson out of his anger. "But I also heard what she said. Are you sure you want to do this?"

Sasuke nodded and the masked man took out his glass ball and held it towards the red moon.

At that moment he noticed Naruto and Sakura walking towards him.

"Menma! Sakura!"

"So you're going?" Naruto asked with a smile.

"Yeah."

"Why did you come anyways?" Sakura asked.

"I wanted to understand more about…myself and my feelings," he murmured, Hinata appearing in his mind.

"Don't forget about us, Sasuke!" Naruto grinned at him.

"W-what happened to Hinata?" Sakura asked in worry.

"I…found her like this," he lied.

"And…what about him?" Naruto asked, pointing his finger at the masked man.

"Madara?" Sakura said confused, wondering how he could be alive when he actually should be dead.

"He is my…friend."

"He's…your FRIEND?" both cried in disbelief.

"One more thing: Do you think you can help Sasuke out of his darkness?" Sasuke asked in a low voice.

They looked surprised.

"Yes, if we know that you are there, then we know that Sasuke also has some of your caring personality," Naruto smiled.

"Don't get emotional for me," Sasuke said teasingly.

"Everything you say," he teased back.

"Do you think…that Hinata cares about him?"

Sakura looked surprised.

"Since he is her friend…she definitely cares for him and will do anything to help him out," Naruto replied.

Sasuke stared at them seriously…but softened when seeing them smile at him.

"I hope we'll see each other," Naruto said while a bright light was forming.

"Me too…Naruto," he smiled back when the light engulfed him.

He closed his eyes.

"I hope you can help him into the light," he thought when the light faded.

He found himself in the Uchiha district…and it was busy as ever. Wherever he looked, there where people – young, old.

He rushed to his home.

"Mother? Father?"

He noticed a smell coming from the kitchen.

And his eyes lit up when seeing his mother and father in the kitchen, sitting on the table, waiting for their sons to come and eat dinner together.

"Sasuke? Where have you been?" his mother asked.

"I was…just taking some time off to myself," he murmured and sat at the table.

"Is that so? So you weren't off to another of your 'dates'? she asked teasingly, causing his father to roll his eyes in annoyance.

"I told you that I was only out for a walk!" Sasuke shouted annoyed.

"Oh…then why is your face red? It seems that 'walk' was with someone, right?" she said with a mischievous smile.

"Because you are even more annoying than Naruto!" he screamed.

"Naruto? Who is that?"

Sasuke noticed his mistake and tried to find a quick answer.

"It's a boy…"

"…we met several days ago who was visiting the village for some days."

All turned around and noticed Itachi sitting next to Sasuke.

Sasuke became suspicious.

Where did he know Naruto from? Did he ever visit their world?

That's when he noticed a smile on Itachi's face, causing him to smile back.

It was most of the time silent until his father spoke up.

"Mikoto? Would you please pass the water?" he asked.

Sasuke used his Sharingan and in an instant held the glass of water in front of his father. But unfortunately…Itachi was just as fast as him and also held a glass of water in front of him.

Fugaku looked confused from left to right.

"Well, I actually asked your mother to do this…but since you insist," he murmured with a smile, causing surprise on Sasuke's part.

He took the glass from Itachi's hand and drank it until the last drop.

"Why just him?" Sasuke asked disappointed.

"Because you abused your Sharingan…and the fact, that I can't drink any more than one glass before…it starts to get ugly."

"I'll take it."

Sasuke watched his mother drink from his glass…and smile at him a very familiar smile.

And for one second he imagined Hinata in her place…but shook the image from his head.

"Why did she come to me?"

He excused himself and went to his room. He took a good look at it and drove with his finger over some of his furniture and noticed how clean his room was – there was not a single particle of dust in his whole room.

He dropped onto his bed…and realized how tired he was and soon fell into a deep, comfortable sleep.

The next day arrived and he went out for a walk…but his solitude was soon to be ruined.

Several girls noticed him and rushed over.

"Sasuke! Why didn't you come yesterday?"

"Yeah, we had a date!"

"You promised!"

He was confused but shook it with a smile, causing the girls to soften a bit.

"Let me give you a present as an apology…and maybe we could do something next time," he said before he gave each girl a rose.

Their eyes lit up and immediately broke out in joyful squeals and screams.

"See ya," he said and left the crowd.

He passed the ramen stand and noticed Hinata coming in his direction.

She frowned as soon as she saw him.

Hinata's words replayed in his mind.

"Show her what you both share."

And that's what he wanted to do.

He stopped walking.

She passed him with her head held high.

"Did anybody tell you that you have very captivating eyes?"

She stopped.

"Get to the point," she said annoyed.

"What I meant was that we have a lot of similar traits," he said and turned to face her.

"So? I don't care," she said angrily.

"So you don't care that we both have doujutsu, annoying brothers...or the fact that the one we love…doesn't take notice of us?" he said with a triumphant smile.

Her eyes widened in surprise…but she tried to cover it with an angry expression.

"So what? You know nothing about Menma!"

"I know more about Menma than you do…because he is my teammate," Sasuke replied, making Hinata even angrier.

"But I know that you love any girl that comes your way."

"That was just because I didn't realize that you were trying to get my attention," Sasuke said.

"I told you that I don't want anything to do with you," she shouted.

"Then why are you talking to me?"

She was taken by surprise.

"Why didn't you just turn around when you saw me? Why do you wait for my confession to end when you're supposed to be too busy to even listen to me?"

She stared at him.

"It's because…like me, Menma doesn't love you. He respects you maybe…but doesn't love you."

His words hurt her like fire.

"That's not true!"

"What did he do to show you his feelings?"

Silence.

"He will never love you like I do," he said, eyes searching for a reaction.

Hinata stared at him with wide eyes.

His eyes were soft but his expression was stone hard.

She blushed unwillingly.

And for one moment he noticed the shy Hinata in her.

She tried to shake her embarrassment off her.

"You…are too sure of yourself. I don't love you and nothing will change that."

"But your red face says otherwise."

Hinata's face turned darker.

But unfortunately, two girls came to Sasuke and clung to his arms.

"Hi, Sasuke."

"Were you going to go to the ramen stand?"

He cursed himself for attracting so much attention.

He turned to them with a smile.

"I want to have some time to myself," he replied and cast a genjutu on them.

"So you really want us to go?"

He reached into his pocket and gave them a kunai.

"Oh Sasuke! That is such a beautiful ring," they squealed in unison, making Hinata angry.

"Move to the side, Sasuke! Let me see 'that ring'."

The girls went with hearts in their eyes.

Sasuke turned around but failed to see the dangerous death glare that Hinata sent him.

All he could see was a fist that hit his face so hard, causing him to fall onto his back.

He saw Hinata stomping away from his sight.

He sat upright with a broken heart, rubbing his aching cheek that turned blue.

His lower lip was bleeding as well.

And he realized that love did hurt.

But he remembered the ointment and took it out from his pocket.

He glanced at it, Hinata appearing in his mind.

He opened it and gently applied it onto his cheek…and in mere seconds the pain was starting to fade.

He smiled.

Hinata was right.

If he kept showing her their similarities…then she'll eventually fall for him.

Just like the ointment, his effort will gradually help him ease his heartache.

He will keep trying…and maybe she'll show him her gentler side…like she did just seconds ago.


End file.
